Just Desserts

“I want something snacky!”

How many times have we heard – or said – that? If you're like me, quite a few times over the years. Well, here's to those snacky days, with some yummy desserts. Enjoy!

LITUANIAN APPLE CAKE

This comes from Brett Moore, About.com's Gourmet Food's guide. He writes, “The apple cake recipe is simple to throw together at a moments notice but wonderfully delicious. A spongy light cake stuffed with tons of spiced apples! Decorate with dried apples and serve with vanilla ice cream for a fancy end to your dinner or leave plain and enjoy for breakfast with a cup of coffee.”

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

Apples

5 medium apples, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons of sugar

Batter

4 large eggs

1 cup of vegetable oil/melted margarine

1/4 cup of orange juice

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3 cups of sifted flour

2 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

3 tablespoons of baking powder

Powdered sugar

Dried apple slices (optional)

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 60 minutes; Total Time: 70 minutes; Yield: Makes 1 9-inch cake

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Mix apples with cinnamon and sugar and let stand in bowl.

In another large bowl, mix together all batter ingredients except the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Butter and flour the cake pan (use a springform pan, deep 8-inch pan or a regular 9- by 13-inch pan). Pour half of the batter in the pan and arrange half of the apple slices on top of the batter. Pour the rest of the batter and arrange the remaining apple slices on top.

Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

If you like, decorate the top of the cake with dried apple slices. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm. Vanilla ice cream is a wonderful partner.

NEW YORK-STYLE CHEESECAKE

This yummy recipe comes from Carroll Pellegrinelli, About.com's Desserts and Baking guide. She writes, “Here is a recipe for New York - Style Cheesecake, which has a sour cream topping.”

Prep Time: 35 minutes; Cook Time: 65 minutes; Total Time: 100 minutes

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

9 whole graham crackers, about 1-1/2 cups crumbs

1-1/4 cups sugar, divided

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 pounds (4 - 8 ounce packages) cream cheese, softened

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla, divided

16 ounces sour cream, divided

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In food processor, process graham crackers and 2 tablespoons sugar. While processing, drizzle in butter. Press mixture into 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese and 1 cup sugar. Add eggs one-at-a-time. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup sour cream. Combine until well-blended. Pour over crust. Bake for 45 minutes. While baking, stir together remaining sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Remove cheesecake from oven and carefully spread sour cream mixture on top. Bake for additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and take a knife around the edges. Cool completely before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in the refrigerator.

LEMON SWIRL CHEESECAKE

This also comes from Carroll Pellegrinelli. For her comments on this recipe, read her notes at the end of the recipe.

To view this online, click here.

Crust:

6 whole graham crackers (about 3 ounces)

1 cup slivered almonds*, toasted

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons lemon zest

Filling:

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup frozen lemonade** concentrate, thawed

2 teaspoons lemon zest

3/4 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

Topping:

1 cup sour cream, room temperature

1 11-1/4-ounce jar purchased lemon** curd

For Crust: 
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. In food processor, finely grind graham crackers. Add nuts; process until coarsely chopped. Drizzle in butter. Add lemon peel. Blend until combined. Press crumbs firmly onto bottom of 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Bake until crust is set, about 10 minutes. Cool.

For Filling:
 Beat cream cheese, sugar, concentrate and zest until smooth. Beat in 3/4 cup sour cream. Add eggs 1 at a time, beat just until combined. Pour into crust. Bake until center (about the size of a quarter) moves only slightly when pan is shaken, about 50 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool 5 minutes.

For Topping: 
Whisk 1 cup sour cream in small bowl until very smooth. Whisk lemon curd in another small bowl until very smooth. Run small sharp knife around sides of cake. Starting at outside of edge of cake, spoon small alternating dollops of sour cream and lemon curd side by side in concentric circles atop warm cake, covering cake completely. Gently shake pan to smooth out toppings. Using tip of knife, gently swirl toppings, forming marble design. Chill cake uncovered overnight.

* Carroll writes, “The orignal recipe calls for walnuts. I have have also made the crust with toasted pecans. Of the three, I prefer the almonds.”

** Carroll writes, “I am fortunate to live in an area with a grocery store that besides lemon, they also have orange and lime curd. When I use the other flavors, I also change the concentrate to orange and/or lime depending on the curd flavor. All three citrus flavors make this a wonderful cheesecake.”

MINI PUMPKIN LAYER CAKES

This recipe is from Keep It Sweet Desserts. They have a newsletter that you can sign up for; definitely worth checking out!

This recipe can be viewed online here. Serves 6.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3/8 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

3/8 cup vegetable oil

One cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup whole milk

Frosting:

1 8oz pacakge of cream cheese, softened

4 tablespoons of butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, (or vanilla bean paste if you have)

2-3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease or spray a half sheet pan and line the bottom with parchment, set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Whisk together and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the eggs and brown sugar for 2-3 minutes or until fluffy. Add the oil and pumpkin, beating until smooth.

Gradually mix in the dry ingredients in 3 batches alternating with milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Don't over-mix!

Pour the batter into the sheet pan and use an off-set spatula to evenly spread it throughout the pan. (This batter pretty much stays where you put it, so if it is spread unevenly it will likely bake that way.)

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until baked through and just slightly golden. (This bakes up pretty quickly since it's so thin, I would check it every minute or two after 10 minutes so it doesn't over-bake.)

Allow cake to cool and then place a sheet of parchment on your work-space and carefully flip the cake onto it. Peel off the parchment.

When cool- use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to stamp rounds out of the cake. Freeze the rounds until ready to frost.

For Frosting:

Whip the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the powdered sugar, a little at a time until the desired sweetness and consistency is reached.

To Assemble:

Place one cake round on a piece of parchment and spread 2 tablespoons of frosting on top. Repeat with 2 or 3 more layers, and either leave the sides of the cake exposed or give it a crumb coat and frost the whole thing.

Top with cake crumbs and (in my case,) toffee bits!

CREAMY RICE PUDDING

This recipe was in several issues (maybe 10 years ago) of Vegetarian Times in ads for Mahatma Rice. I'd lost track of the recipe, which I'd made several times for a certain someone who loved homemade rice pudding. I had to admit, it was definitely worth the time it took to fix it.

1 1/2 quarts 2% milk

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Mahatma rice (see note)

1/2 cup raisins

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Note: The recipe called for Mahatma, Water Maid, Carolina, or River rice.

Combine milk, sugar and rice in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cook uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. (The milk should just barely simmer, with bubble breaking only at the outside edge of the surface. After an hour, the rice should be soft.)

Add raisins, increase heat to medium heat, and cook, stirring frequently, until rice has absorbed most of the rest of the milkl, but not all, and the pudding is creamy (about 30 minutes longer).

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. When cool, pudding will thicken, but will still be very creamy. Serve warm or well chilled. Serves 8.

CHAI RICE PUDDING

This comes from the February 2006 issue of Vegetarian Times, page 86. It starts off, “If you like chai tea, you'll love this creamy, comforting dessert studded with apples and raisins. For the best flavor, choose a strong, spicy chai tea; we used, Tazo's chai tea bags.”

3 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk or low-fat milk

4 black chai tea bags

1 cup short- or medium-grain white rice

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 medium-sized apple, peeled, cored and diced

1/4 cup dark raisins

whipped cream for garnish, optional

cinnamon for garnish, optional

Bring 2 cups water and 1 cup soymilk to a boil in large saucepan. Remove from heat, and add teabags. Cover, and steep 5 minutes. Remove tea bags, squeezing out any liquid.

Stir rice, sugar and salt into tea mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups soymilk, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, or until rice is soft. Stir in apple and raisins; remove from heat. Cover pot, and let sit 10 minutes.

Spoon pudding into 2-quart heatproof dish. Serve warm or cold, with whipped cream and cinnamon, if desired.

Per serving: 208 cal; 5 g prot; 2 g total fat (0 g sat. fat); 43 g carb; 0 mg cholesterol; 75 mg sodium; 1 g fiber; 20 g sugars